Paterson will serve out full term

New York Gov. David Paterson (D) will serve out his full term and won't resign before it expires.

The embattled governor announced last week he would not seek reelection, saying that "being honest about politics." Paterson also hinted that two recent reports in the New York Times had caused him to back out of the race.

In an interview with the New York Observer, Paterson said he did not know why the issue of his resignation arose:

[Observer editor Kyle] Pope...asked if the resignation question is off the table.

Mr. Paterson said it is off the table, and he doesn't know why it was even on the table. After a moment of silence, Mr. Paterson said, "And clearly neither do you."

Later, he said the resignation question was rather "remote" from the serious issues facing the state, such as the budget.

"I think there's a hysteria that I've been the victim of over the past couple months," he said.

Paterson also said that he is not seeking reelection because he did not think it possible to run a campaign and govern at the same time.

The governor told the Observer that Republicans could no longer attack him for making politically-motivated decisions now that he has stepped out of the race.